Leaning against Appa with my eyes closed and arms folded, I opened them a few moments later when I heard someone calling out to me. "A-Aang!" Gazing through the snowstorm, I saw the approaching figure, which prompted me to exhale and command the wind to part, revealing Hama running towards me.
When she arrived near me, she slowed down to a walk before leaning on her knees, gathering her breath while the snowstorm enveloped the path she had taken. Pushing off Appa, I lightly stretched while gazing down at her. "Your pack seems a little small; are you sure that's everything you need?"
Reaching down, I grabbed Hama's pack, weighing it briefly before tossing it onto Appa while she raised her head and nodded. "Y-Yeah, it's mostly just clothes; everything else I-I can just buy from other cities." Having regained her bearings, Hama stood upright, looking at me before shifting her focus to Appa. "Hey Appa! How have you been? Are you excited?"
As Hama walked to the front, greeting Appa, who just lazily roared in response, she chuckled. "Hehe, you must've woken up early. You're always so lazy, Appa." Nodding in agreement with her, I leaped onto Appa before reaching my hand down, helping Hama up as she sat adjacent to me.
"Yip yip." Snapping the reins, Appa roared, displaying the dignity he had as a mighty Sky Bison; with a few flaps of his tais, he flew through the sky, rapidly ascending. "Aw, man, because of this snowstorm, I can't see anything." Hama was pouting while leaning over the edge, causing me to roll my eyes. "Back up a little, Hama."
Listening to my orders, I raised my arm and thrust my palm downwards, which seemed to do nothing, but after several seconds, the snowstorm was practically blown away, leaving a clear view of the ground below us, allowing Hama to see the village.
"Whoa!? How'd you get rid of the snowstorm, Aang!?" While looking at me in shock and awe, I gently shook my head while pointing south, causing her to slightly widen her eyes. "I didn't. I just prevented the snowstorm from entering." I had created a dome, blocking the snowstorm over a massive area; as for getting rid of it, even I couldn't affect the weather on such a gigantic scale.
'Well, maybe if I entered the avatar state I'd be able to.' With the near-infinite chi granted in the avatar state, it might be possible to change the weather in a specific region, but I'd also need an equal amount of control, which I was relatively confident I lacked.
"Do you think I'll be able to do that, Aang?" "Hmm, which one? Getting rid of a snowstorm or what I had done?" "Heh, both!" Seeing Hama's grin, I faintly smirked before shaking my head. "With enough training, yes, you can do what I did, but you'll never be able to manipulate the weather on such a grand scale." "Aww." My eye couldn't help but twitch at her disappointment as she pouted.
I just told her she'd be able to do something that probably no one else but the Avatar would be able to achieve, yet she was still complaining. 'This girl.' Peeking at it from behind, I softly sighed and shook my head.
Even though Hama was merely fifteen years old, she was the village's greatest water-bender, by a large margin as well. Her talent for bending was incredible; she began learning more than a decade ago, and even at ten, she was already one of the best water-benders, and by twelve, she was the greatest. Her healing arts had long since surpassed her Great-grandmother, Hana; as for the other sub-bending, she hadn't learned them yet.
I would teach her spirit-bending when she was older and calmer. As for blood-bending, I wanted her to figure that one out on her own; given that she was the original creator of blood-bending, at least to my knowledge, I wanted her to figure that out on her own. I hadn't even told her that blood bending existed; she'd have to figure it out all on her own. Of course, I'd give her subtle hints.
Currently, we are going on an adventure around the world as Hama wanted to explore, and I had no reason to refuse, especially since it would just be the two of us. It was faint, but Hama, I had grown suspicious of her; compared to the original Hama, she was much more talented, and when I factor in my wish…
'If she were really my reincarnated wife or daughter, shouldn't I have known instantly?' As I secretly looked at her side profile, I bit my lip before closing my eyes and sighing; I was confused. On one hand, I suspected she was my reincarnated wife or daughter, but on the other hand, the lack of certainty left me perplexed.
In the end, I shook my head, pushing those thoughts away; whether she was my reincarnated wife or daughter, that could wait. I've waited fifty years; I could wait another.
"50 years. I'm officially an old man." Granted, I was still physically in my peak; actually, I might've not even reached my physical peak. "Hmm, did you say something, Aang?" "No. Anyway, are you sure you didn't forget anything? Have you spoken to everyone?"
"Yes, Aang, Mother was pestering me with the same question as well. I hope Kanna is okay, though; she's had it rough ever since she fled from the Northern Water Tribe." Shooting me an annoyed glare, Hama softly sighed before looking over the edge once more. "She'll be fine. For a non-bender to have made all the way here during such dangerous times, she is far from weak." "I'm still worried, though."
"Who knows. Perhaps when we return, she'll already be married." "Eh, married? Ugh, why would she want to be married? She'll just become some house vase." "Hahaha." My laughter seemed to annoy Hama, who leaned in close, staring intently at me. "Why are you laughing? Do you find women's oppression funny, Aang?" "No. You just reminded me of Hina, so I couldn't help but laugh." "Grandmother?"
Hama tilted my head in confusion at my words, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "Huh, has she not spoken about it?" "Spoken of what? If you're referring to women's oppression, she just ignores me whenever I bring it up." "Hmm, I see. It must be a sensitive topic to her now."
Nodding softly, I gently snapped the reins, prompting Appa to leave the dome I'd created and enter the snowstorm; to protect us, I enveloped us in a large spherical vortex. "Anyway, where would you like to go, Hama?" As I change topics, Hama's enthusiasm also switches as she furrows her brows in thought. "Hmm, the Southern Air Temple. I want to see your home."
"I would call it more of a house than a home, but okay. I should actually return, it's been some time since I've been there… Southern Air Temple, Appa." With a soft growl, Appa changed his direction, heading southwest.
Since it was relatively close, the trip took only a few days, and on the fourth, in the afternoon, we spotted the silhouette of the Southern Air Temple.
"Is that the temple? Amazing." Glancing at Hama's amazed expression, which I found amusing, I nodded. "If you think this is amazing, just wait until you see the Western Air Temple." "Are you saying the Western Air Temple looks even better than this?" "Yes, though I'm not saying anything." Pouting slightly at my refusal to further speak on the western air temple, we headed towards the entrance of the temple.
"That's a lot of sky bison." Muttering under her breath, I glanced up at the sky. "It's not." "But there's like 40 of them just flying around." "Before the invasion, only 40 would be a cause for concern. You may see awe, but I can only see pain." Silence quickly enveloped us at my words, causing me to awkwardly cough. 'I should not have said that. Hama looks depressed now.'
After a few minutes, we landed at the entrance and hopped off. "Go on, Appa, why don't you see how your family is doing?" Patting Appa, he growled before flying off. "Appa has a family?" Raising her eyebrow, Hama looked up at Appa's fading figure. "Yeah. He has four mates and seventeen children." "I-I would've never guessed." "It's the pros that come with the training regime I've forced onto him; he is the strongest Sky Bison."
"Come, I'll give you a tour, though, everything looks basically the same." Gesturing to Hama, we stepped through the temple's entrance, staring from the bottom and slowly making our way up.
"Down there are the hot springs, it's where I'd usually wash myself." "Looks dangerous." "I happened to save a sky-bison cub from impaling itself on the jagged rocks."
"This is the training grounds; rather self-explanatory. Classes are usually taught here." "Classes?" "Yes, classes; how do you think we learn to air bend?" "I sort of thought you guys just always meditated."
"Over here is the armory; the only thing in there is bo-staffs and saddles." "Could I get a bo-staff?" "Suuure." "Yes!"